By

Before looking at our endorsements, we encourage you to read the Macalester College Student Government executive candidates’ statements on the preceding pages. After our own reading of their statements, and hearing from the candidates at last Tuesday’s executive debate, we have concluded as a staff that these candidates would best serve the student body in the year ahead. President: We endorse Patrick Snyder. After five semesters of involvement with MCSG, he still sees a need to bridge a “fundamental disconnect,” between the student government and the student body it serves. Specifically, when it comes to MCSG’s greatest responsibility — distributing student activity fee money — Snyder has given several engaging ideas for reform, such as by making FAC minutes public and thereby encouraging more transparency. Vice-President: We endorse Kai Peterson. We think Peterson has the experience to make MCSG communicate more proactively and effectively with the student body. Making MCSG more accessible to students by encouraging them to email in concerns also strikes us as a promising idea. Academic Affairs Committee: We endorse Ezequiel Jimenez. As this year’s debate over Russian Studies debate demonstrated, students in this role can play a significant part in making big decisions about large changes to the Macalester curriculum. We think that Jimenez’s broad experiences, such as being a student representative to the Board of Trustees, will serve him well when considering important curricular questions. Student Organizations Committee: Since he is running unopposed, it is probably not too much of a surprise that we endorse Jeff Garcia. He has the wide variety of org participation and org leadership experience required to help this relatively new position evolve and grow. We look forward to the perspective we expect him to bring to MCSG. Read the statements, contact the candidates with any questions, and get your vote in before next Friday. refresh –>